29-year-old former champion loses the chance to face Rhea Ripley at WWE Superstar Spectacle 2023

At WWE Superstar Spectacle 2023, a #1 contender's match was held to determine Rhea Ripley's challenger for the Women's World Championship later in the evening. A 29-year-old former champion lost the chance to do so.

A match between Zoey Stark and Natalya was announced to determine Rhea Ripley's next challenger. Natalya has already lost two televised title matches against Ripley, one of them happening in just 69 seconds in Saudi Arabia.

Natalya defeated Zoey Stark to become the #1 contender to Rhea Ripley once again.

The outcome was rather obvious, with WWE normally avoiding heel vs. heel matches, especially in live events.

Zoey Stark is coming off a split from Trish Stratus after a brief alliance that started at Night of Champions a few months ago.

Stark is a former NXT Women's Tag Team Champion and was drafted to RAW this past April. The pairing with Stratus didn't help her too much, with the entire storyline with Becky Lynch not meeting expectations until the final steel cage match.

Over the last few years, Natalya has taken to her role as a reliable veteran member of the roster. Meanwhile, Women's World Champion Ripley has been the most dominant woman on the roster by far in 2023.